I started my relationship with GNSS and Moore’s Law in 1985, writing software for GPS tracking loops on the Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft program at the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University for the U.S. Air Force. The project’s purpose was to navigate a large jet to accurately fly a pattern to drop buoys into the ocean. That receiver had seven circuit boards (six trackers and one navigator) mounted on a VME backplane in a 19-inch rack mount in the back of a C-130, and was about the size and weight of suitcase. read more

A virtual reference station network covering a metropolitan area supplies position corrections to commuter buses equipped with a driver-assist system to enable safe operation, even under harsh weather conditions, along high-volume roadways. read more

Modern machines such as wood harvesters can automatically cut trees and remove branches, but an expert is still needed to plan a thinning and to mark the trees to be felled. The process can be accelerated if the forest ranger can virtually mark trees to be cut, using geographic coordinates instead of colored crosses sprayed on the stems. This requires the robotic wood harvester to be able to locate itself accurately to enable automatic navigation to the next tree for cutting.
Absorption of the GPS signal in the forest canopy leads to poor results, however, with errors up to 50 meters and more. read more